Story+1985-01-05+Hampton,+VA

´´This is about, uh...the trickle-down theory of economics not trickling down....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Johnny 99´**

´´Thanks....this is a song about blind faith and its, uh, tragic consequences (?)....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Reason to Believe´**

´´Here´s a song about, uh....family and duty....what happens when....when those things collide....and when your....heart goes in one way and your conscience in other....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Highway Patrolman´**

´´Thanks....I think we all have, uh....there´s always events that you kind of mark your lives by....I know, like I always remember where I was when I was 13, I was out in gym class when a kid came running across the field and told us that, that John Kennedy had been shot ....I can always remember what the day was like, they sent everybody home, we sat in front of the television....and uh.....I always remember where I was, I was on this farm, living on this farm when a friend of mine called me and told me that Elvis Presley had died....and it was....so hard to understand....´cause he came in and he kind of told everybody that, you know, you´re not alone out there, guess that was his, that was one of his messages (chuckles) and how you could end up so alone....but a dream, even a real good dream that comes true is a dangerous thing....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Johnny Bye Bye´**

´´Now this is a song about old times....now....when you get up about my age....where´s my cane ? no (chuckles) you´ve got a certain amount of old times behind you....but now the Big Man, he has more old times than me....but as you can see, he has maintained his youthful beauty....now, this is a song about how you go out on a Friday night....but it´s the worst, like, New Year´s, New Year´s, everybody gets all real sentimental and melancholy and sobbing and even if you hate somebody, you kind of like ´em around then, you know (chuckles) but uh, they always come up to you and go ´Oh, Bruce, how you doing ? remember me ? yeah, we went to high school, no, me, remember the guy, (?) you had lunch, the guy got the pizza and dumped it on your head ? yeah, that´s me ! how you doing, how you doing ?´ (chuckles) ´Man, that was great, that was great times´...you always meet everybody telling you how great high school was....well, personally I hated high school....I couldn´t stand no high school ....when fall comes around, I´m still glad I don´t have to go back to high school....every night around 8 o´clock I´m glad I don´t have to do no homework.....I´m still waiting for somebody to come up, tap me on the shoulder and tell me this is all a dream and I gotta go back to high school....anyway....in high school I was only interested in two things....now, one was rock and roll !....and the other one was, was, was.....let´s say I´ve maintained my interest in both .....but the only one that I got really good at was the guitar....that´s why the show´s so long ´cause the other one happens so fast.....(chuckles) but that´s alright ´cause I´m still looking for some volunteers who wanna practise, practise, practise....I´m gonna get it down this year, I promised myself, that´s my New Year´s resolution (chuckles) anyway, in the end, all things must pass....you´re left with nothing but glory days.....are you ready, boys ?....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´When I was....guess around late 70´s....I started to try and sit down and think where I was going, what I was gonna write about, what I wanted my songs to be about....uh, I knew I wanted ´em to be about struggle ´cause I think it´s hard, basically a hard road to go for everybody out there, whether you´re rich or poor, to get through the day, trying....to hold on to your friends and hold on to your job and some sense of community....but there´s people out there who got it really hard....people who can´t find just a place to stay or enough to eat ....and uh, tonight when you go out into the lobby you´re gonna see some folks from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia....and what a foodbank does is every year here in America about 20 percent of all the food that gets produced gets thrown away....and meanwhile there´s people that, that aren´t getting enough to eat, there´s old folks whose social security checks ain´t getting ´em through the month, there´s people that have, uh, just been hit by unemployment, people who, like I said, the trickle-down theory of economics is not trickling down to....there´s kids in nurseries and orphanages and they can use a hand ....and uh, I guess I believe that, that the American spirit is a, is a generous one so....they can use your support, you can go out there and you can check ´em out, there´s some information on ´em out there if you can spare a few bucks, they can sure use it....and uh, if you can spare some time, they need some volunteers to work in the warehouses....and sometimes I know people going hungry seems like it´s happening a real long distance away but it´s not, it´s happening right here in your hometown....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´Well, now, there I was....like I was still in high school, I wasn´t doing too good....getting bad grades....wasn´t paying attention in class....I´d always be daydreaming all the time.... everybody used to call me ´The Dreamer´, I´d be sitting there looking out the window....so they sent me down to the guidance counsellor...so I walked in....he said ´Mr.Springsteen ....what´s your problem ?´....I said ´Well...you see, it´s like, Sir, I don´t know what I wanna be, I don´t know what I´m gonna do with myself when I get out of school, I ain´t got no interest in nothing, I ain´t got no, I ain´t got no faith, I need some hope, I need´, he said ´That´s too big a problem, you better go home and speak to your folks´....so I went home, I walked in, my dad was sitting in the kitchen....I walked in, I said ´Dad, you know, like, I´m having this big problem, I really gotta, this is really important, I really gotta talk to you about this....you see, like, I´m in trouble in school and I don´t know what I gonna do with myself, I got no direction, I don´t know what I wanna be, it´s like, like I need some faith, I need some hope, I need some, some, some close interpersonal relationship with a member of the opposite sex !´....and he just, he just kind of looked at me and said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´....so that was it, I was gonna call it a day, I decided I was gonna drown myself ....so I got out on 33 and I started hitchhiking....I hitchhiked down to Asbury Park.....I had this phony I.D and I figured that before I would kill myself I would have a drink first....so I went into this little bar and I went into the men´s room and on the wall there was this number and it said ´Advice and answer to all problems, big or small´ so I got a dime, went outside, put it in the phonebooth, dialled the number....rang once ....rang twice....then I heard.... (Clarence: ´Hello´)....and there was this guy on the other end called Clarence ´He-who-knows-all´ Clemons....so, so he thought that he could help me out so he invited me over to his house....so I hitchhiked over to his house.....came, knocked on the door....opened up....we kind of checked each other out....we decided we´d make a good team.....and so he said he needed a partner because he was having his own problems but he had just been to the gypsy and the gypsy had sold him a map to the secret of the world....and if we followed this map tonight when the moon was full, we´d find the answer to all our troubles....so that night we got in Clarence´s Oldsmobile and we started driving south....and when we started driving, the rain started coming down....and then it started hailing....and then a snowstorm hit....and then we got hit by a heatwave....and then a tornado came squiggling up and then the roof blew off the car, we had two flat tires, the engine block cracked, the carburator flew off, the windows flew out, a hurricane hit.....and there we were.....parked by the side of this dirt road....and according to the map what we were looking for was just on the other side of those woods.... so into the forest we went....it was scary in there.....we were down deep into the pines now ....we came upon this big shade tree.....we could tell it was a shade tree because it had its shades on ....and then deeper into the forest.....and we started hearing like werewolves howling (crowd howls) we started hearing lions roaring (crowd roars) and homicidal cows mooing (crowd moos) and killer dogs barking away (crowd barks) now, Big Man, there ain´t, there ain´t nothing like, there ain´t no wild beasts or nothing that´s gonna get, get you killed like, I´ve never heard of nobody being like mauled in New Jersey or nothing, you know....ain´t nothing like gonna....you sure ?....check the map, make sure we´re going the right....I hear something behind us, I hear something behind us....I hear something behind us, there´s something back there, there´s something.....whooa ! (the source tape missing a part) making us his dinner, he was acting kind of friendly....and he said, he said that he wasn´t mean, he was just lonely....and that he´d been out in these woods so long all by himself, he ran away from the circus where they tried to keep him in all them cages....and he said that if we´d be his buddy, he´d help us find the answer to all our problems....I could tell by the way he wore his hat that he was smarter than the average bear....and so we said we´d be his friends and he took us off into the woods.....and all of a sudden there in the clearing, the clouds pulled away from the moon....and a light shone down....on the answer to our quest.... and as we stood there....the moon shone down....and I knew everything was gonna be all right....´cause ....´cause.....´cause.....when we touched....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Growin´Up´**

´´I remember it was the end of the summer....and it was on this little strip off the river where we met and it was like right away she was like one of those girls that....we started going out and when we first went out, it was like, you know how it is when you´re first seeing somebody, like you´re laughing all the time, everything you do is fun....we´d go riding....then later on it seemed like the things that made her happy once didn´t make her happy any more ....and I was spending most of my time trying to find something....that´d make her happy again, try to make it the way it was....but, uh, she got to where she didn´t wanna go out, she didn´t talk any more....and she´d hide my keys at night so I couldn´t take the car out....and uh ....it got hard to make her understand....that when I took the car out.....and I know she knew it once.....and when I won, that it was the only time I got to feeling, feeling good about myself....and to have just one thing....just one thing that you can do.....that makes you feel proud of yourself....well, I don´t think that´s too much for anybody to ask.....is it ?.... (....) Well, that was the night that we left....we still don´t know where we´re going yet but that´ll come in time....but sometimes it seems like time gets running so short on you, feels like it´s gonna run out on you....in the end there´s nothing much you can do....but to keep going....and to keep searching.....and to keep going....and to keep going....and to keep going .....and to keep going....keep going.....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Racing in the Street´**

´´Thank you, I´d like to just take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to the shows we´ve done here in Virginia, thank you very much....I wanna wish Hampton happy birthday....and uh....I´d like to also thank you for your support of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia....´cause when we started, I guess, like a lot of the power of rock and roll was the power of friendship and community and the idea that one person can make a difference....´cause in the end nobody wins unless everybody wins....”
 * 05.01.85 Hampton, VA, intro to ´Born to Run´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//